Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition (PDF) (Print)

An NPR Book of the Year
A Seattle Times Book of the Year
William E. Colby Award Winner

ÒA beautifully written, deeply intelligent book about [a] crucial moment.Ó Ñ Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Nobody expected the liberation of India and birth of Pakistan to be so violentÑit was supposed to be an answer to the dreams of Muslims and Hindus who had been ruled by the British for more than a century. But as the summer of 1947 approached, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs were heavily armed and on edge after a year of riots and gang fighting, and the British rushed to leave. Hell broke loose. Trains carried Muslims west and Hindus east to their slaughter. Some of the most brutal and widespread ethnic cleansing in modern history erupted on both sides of the new border, searing a divide between India and Pakistan that remains a root cause of many of todayÕs most menacing security threats, from jihadi terrorism to nuclear proliferation. Based on major new sources, Nisid HajariÕs revelatory MidnightÕs Furies lays out the searing truth about one of the worldÕs most momentous and least understood tragedies.
 
ÒFast-moving and highly readable . . . The story of what happens when a composite society comes apart.Ó Ñ New York Times Book Review

ÒMakes the complex and tragic story of the great divide into a page-turner.Ó Ñ Guardian

 ÒEngaging and incisive . . . Hajari writes with grace, precision, and an unerring eye for detail. MidnightÕs Furies is the best of recent offerings.Ó Ñ Wall Street Journal